A cura di Paola Della Valle 
 
 A historical overview of the largest empire of all time, from its origins to the decline and then the Commonwealth, through five stories from the five continents, told by: Joseph Conrad (An Outpost of Progress), keen observer of European colonialism in Africa; Rudyard Kipling (Lispeth, India); Henry Lawson (The Drover’s Wife, Australia); Henry Rider Haggard (Long Odds, South Africa); Gilbert Parker (A Man, A Famine and a Heathen Boy, Canada).
 Stimulating in-depth analyses enrich each story. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Transcripts - Summing-up Activities
 
 Uno sguardo storico al più grande impero di tutti i tempi, dalle origini al declino e al Commonwealth con cinque storie per i cinque continenti narrate da: J. Conrad (An Outpost of Progress, acuto osservatore del colonialismo britannico in Africa); R. Kipling (Lispeth, India); H. Lawson (The Drover’s Wife, Australia); H. R. Haggard (Long Odds, Sudafrica); G. Parker (A Man, a Famine and a Heathen Boy, Canada).

History of the British Empire: Birth and Decline

Joseph Conrad

Story 1 – An Outpost of Progress

Extension – From Heart of Darkness to Apocalypse Now

History of the British Empire: Colonial India

Rudyard Kipling

Story 2 – Lispeth

Extension – The voice of non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi

History of the British Empire: Colonial Australia

Henry Lawson

Story 3 – The Drover’s Wife

Extension – Australian identity: the bush and the Aborigines

History of the British Empire: Colonial South Africa

Henry Rider Haggard

Story 4 – Long Odds

Extension – From lost worlds to psychoanalysis

History of the British Empire: Colonial Canada

Gilbert Parker

Story 5 – A Man, a Famine and a Heathen Boy

Extension – Canada’s indigenous peoples

Summing-up activities

Glossary

Birth and Decline of the British Empire The short stories in this book were written when the British Empire was at its fullest extent. Two main driving forces determined its development. First, it was seen as defence against the growing military strength of other European powers. The Empire would provide military manpower1 and the economic means to support British leadership. Secondly, the interest in the Empire was commercial. By the end of the 19th century, Britain imported most of its raw materials2 and resources from the colonies, which in turn provided the main markets for the products manufactured in Britain. The foundations of the Empire were laid under the Tudors, especially during Elizabeth I s reign, when English explorers dared to challenge Spain s supremacy in the New World, and corsairs like Francis Drake or Walter Raleigh had a royal licence to rob the treasures of the Spanish galleons coming from South America. The first British colonies in the New World were located on the Eastern coasts of North America. In Virginia and Maryland economy boomed thanks to the experimental planting of tobacco. The Puritan Pilgrim Fathers settled further north and prospered in New England. The British government used the colonies as a place to send undesirable people, such as Catholics and Puritans, criminals, Irish rebels and prisoners of war. Although the West Indies had first been settled by the Spanish, when the British discovered fertile Barbados, they invested in sugar plantations which resulted in immense riches and accelerated the occupation of other islands. As the tobacco and sugar plantations required a high number of labourers, their owners adopted the Spanish system of imported African slave labour. In three centuries of slavery, more than 3 million Africans died, many of them on British vessels. The British expanded their Empire all over the world: India, East Asia, Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the South Seas. Colonisation took two different forms: the colonies of occupation (invaded colonies) and those of settlement (settler colonies). In the former   like Nigeria and India   the indigenous people remained a majority ruled by the British elite through the army and the administrative network. In the latter   like Australia, New Zealand and Canada   the Europeans exterminated or marginalized the natives, and became the majority population. The decline of the Empire started in the 1920s-30s. Most of Ireland became the Irish Free State (with dominion status) in 1922 and a  sovereign independent state  (Eire) in 1937. During the 1930s, there was unrest3 throughout the Empire, most notably in India with non-violent leader Mahatma Gandhi. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster changed the relationship between Britain and its dominions by establishing the  British Commonwealth of Nations , an organisation of countries  equal in status but united by common allegiance4 to the Crown . World War II caused the end of all colonial empires. India gained independence in 1947, Sudan, Ghana and Malaya in the 1950s, and most of the remaining African countries in the 1960s. By 1970 British colonies in the West Indies were independent, too. In 1973, when Britain entered the EEC, only a few small possessions remained, including Gibraltar and Hong Kong, which was returned to the Chinese in 1997. 1. manpower: the number of workers needed to do a particular job. 2. raw material: a basic material used to make a product. 3. unrest: a political situation in which people protest. 4. allegiance: loyalty. 

The Author Joseph Conrad (J zef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, 1857-1924) Conrad was born in Polish Ukraine, a territory under Russian rule, to Polish parents. He belonged to an aristocratic family and his father Apollo, a landowner and man of letters, was a militant rebel who was exiled to Northern Russia for supporting Polish independence. Conrad and his mother followed him, but she died after only three years and the boy was sent back to an uncle. His father died shortly afterwards, so Conrad never saw him again. After his studies in Cracow, Conrad left Poland to follow his passionate desire to go to sea. In 1874, he left for Marseilles and served on French merchant vessels until 1878, when he joined the British Merchant Navy. He sailed all over the world, but mainly to the Far East, which later became the setting of many of his novels. In 1886, he became a British subject and two years later was given his first command of a vessel, sailing in the Malay Archipelago. In 1890, he captained a steamer on the Congo river, an experience which affected him deeply and provided the inspiration for his masterpiece, Heart of Darkness (1902). He retired from the sea in 1894, settled in England and devoted himself to writing. In 1895, he married Jessie George, who gave him two sons. He died in 1924. His first novel, published under the pen-name of Conrad, was Almayer s Folly (1895) followed by An Outcast of the Islands (1896) and The Nigger of the  Narcissus  (1897). After that, a series of novels and short stories appeared, which strongly identify him with the eastern seas: Lord Jim (1900), Typhoon and Youth (1902), The Secret Sharer (1912), Victory (1915) and The Shadow-Line (1917). He was also interested in the theme of revolution, which he explored in Nostromo (1904), set in a South American Republic, The Secret Agent (1907) and Under Western Eyes (1911). Although at first glance Conrad appears to be a writer of action stories in exotic places, there is much more to his works. Far from being 5 

Una prospettiva storica sull'Impero britannico con cinque storie rappresentative dai cinque continenti: Africa, India, Australia, Sudafrica e Canada.

The British Empire - Collana Rainbows

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

The British Empire

Flowbooks è una piattaforma di distribuzione dedicata al mondo della scuola e dell'università.  Con questa piattaforma di distribuzione, il team di sviluppo Flowbooks  si impegna a soddisfare le esigenze degli utenti digitali, rendendo l'utilizzo accessibile e piacevole.  Entra nella tua area di interesse!

Edisco è una Casa editrice indipendente che opera prevalentemente nel settore educativo.

Edisco

Flowbooks è innovazione didattica a portata di click